This invention relates to a fishing reel and more particularly to portions of the reel such as a leg portion, a handle knob and an antilever which are touched and gripped with fingers. Antilever refers to anti-reverse-lever hereinafter.
In a spinning reel, when a combination of a sinker and fishing hooks is cast or when a fishing line is wound, a fishing rod is generally held together with a reel fixing plate holding a front portion of the leg portion in a state wherein the main body of the leg portion is held between a middle finger and a third finger. However, in a fishing reel whose leg portion is made of the same material, that is, aluminium or the like as that of the main body of the fishing reel, there are a few of drawbacks such that an angler feels uncomfortable when he touches the leg portion, he is sometimes injured on his fingers and he is apt to get tired when he uses the reel for a long time.
There is another type of a known fishing reel whose leg portion has a covering member made of soft material to cover the gripping surface of the leg portion therewith. The known fishing reel is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publications No. 30309/1975 and No. 775/1985.
However, the main body of the leg portion of the conventional reel and its reel fixing plate are partially covered with the covering member by inserting a part of the covering member into a receiving groove formed on the side surface of the main body of the leg portion or by inserting a boss formed on the covering member into a through hole formed in the leg portion. Therefore, the covering member is unstable to cause the covering member to easily seperate from the leg portion and to cause an uncomfortable feeling when an angler grips the leg portion. Further, when the angler desires to grip the leg portion, the covering member is deviated or deformed whereby the leg portion can not be held tightly. Therefore, for example, when relatively big fish are caught by fishing from rocks near the shore, a winding operation for winding a fishing line around a reel cannot be carried out easily.
Further, as a conventional handle knob is made of wear proof resin, when a reel is dropped or hit on something, the knob will be easily broken due to a shock. In addition, as the knob is hard, an uncomfortable gripping feeling is given to an angler. Furthermore, the conventional knob does not fit well fingers of an angler.
Therefore, his fingers are apt to get tired when the reel is used for a long time.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications No. 139463/1985 and No. 27416/1980 disclose two kinds of reels to solve the above problems. However, the former has a grip formed with a peripheral groove into which an elastic member is inserted in a state wherein a part of the elastic member is projected partially. Accordingly, the grip is not sufficiently protected from a shock due to hitting of the reel onto something. Further, as the elastic member is projected in the form of a plurality of stripes parallel to each other, a comfortable feeling is not given to an angler when the grip is held with a hand.
The latter has a grip made of wear proof synthetic resin, the main body of which is coated with synthetic resin with a high elasticity. This grip is tolerable to a shock. However, when a fishing line is wound by rotating the handle of a reel to hook up a big fish pulling violently the line, it is difficult that an angler holds the grip tightly because the whole surfaces of the grip are relatively uniformly soft. If the grip is coated with synthetic resin with a low elasticity, he can hold the grip tightly. In this case, a comfortable feeling is not obtained when an angler holds the grip and the grip does not fit his hand well.
Furthermore, in a conventional fishing reel, as its antilever is made of urea resin or die casting material such as aluminum, it is fragile. Therefore, when the reel is dropped or hit on something, the antilever may be easily broken due to a shock at that time. In addition, the urea resin and die casting material are generally hard. Accordingly, a comfortable feeling is not obtained when an angler holds the antilever and the antilever does not fit his finger well. Further, when a turning operation of the antilever is carried out in a state wherein load is exerted on the antilever, he feels pain at the distal end of his finger thereby to make it impposible to exert a sufficient force thereon.